Rights and responsibilities Flashcards
how do Christians make moral decisions?-only the bible& why we shouldn’t use only the bible
Only the bible..
- the bible is the word of God and so is gods guidance on making decisions
- the bible contains the Decalogue: guidance on adultery, stealing, murder, lying etc
- the bible contains Jesus’s teachings on how to live, which Christians should follow as they believe he is the son of God
- the bible contains letters from the disciples on how to live
Not the bible..
- we need the church to teach us what the bible means
- some believe the bible is only inspired by God and must be interpreted for the modern world
- some Christians believe their conscience is the voice of God so can be trust along with the bible
How do Christians make moral decisions- church for guidance
- the church is the body of Christ (Jesus working in today’s world) so it has the same authority as the bible
- God speaks to the world today through the church
- the church is guided by God in making moral decisions on moral issues of today’s modern world
- Catholic Christians believe the magisterium (the pope and bishops interpretation of the bible) gives perfect guidance on moral behaviour
How do Christians make moral decisions- conscience and not using conscience
Conscience..
- some Christians believe their conscience is the voice of God speaking directly to them (many churches also believe and teach this)
- St Paul taught that our conscience should be the final part of making a moral decision
- some believe the conscience is better than listening to the church as it comes directly from God without other people interpretation
Not using conscience..
- in the past people have used their conscience to justify doing bad things
- some believe the church and the bible have more authority than one persons conscience
- if everyone followed their conscience not laws the world would be in chaos
How do Christians make moral decisions-situation ethnics& not using situation ethics
Situation ethics..
- Jesus seemed to follow situation ethics because he overruled what the Old Testament said when he thought it was unloving
- Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God and love your neighbour so we should do what has the most loving results
- Christianity is a religion based on love not laws
- it is wrong to ignore the consequences of your actions
Situation ethics is wrong because..
- the bible is god’s word and should be followed exactly so we should follow the Decalogue and Jesus teachings not our own ideas of what is more loving
- we cannot be sure of what is the most loving outcome
How do Christians make moral decisions-variety of authorities
- Catholics would usually follow the church as the magisterium applies the teachings of the bible and the apostles to modern life
- some Christians who follow situation ethics may go to the church or bible if they have a difficult moral decision to make and cannot figure out what the most loving thing to do is
- protestants tend to use the Bible but this is difficult for modern issues not in the Bible (e.g contraception) so they may then seek guidance from the church or their conscience
human rights in the UK
in 1998 the human rights act gave UK citizens the right to..
- Life liberty and a fair trial
- freedom of conscience and religion and to express your own views
- freedom to take part in free elections
human rights are important because..
- without human rights you could find yourself living in a dictatorship
- without the right to freedom of thought and expression minority religious groups may be banned impressed of killed
- without the right to free elections there would be no democracy
some people abuse human rights e.g. prisoners claiming their human rights are abused
some believe not everyone has the right to basic human rights e.g. we should be able to torture terrorists to get information that could save lives
why human rights are important for Christians
- God created life so it is sacred and holy therefore it should be protected with human rights
- everyone is made in the image of God so we should treat everyone fairly and equally which human rights ensures
- freedom of thought, conscience and religion and expression are part of being a Christian
- christians must have the right to believe what they want and tell others about it as the Bible tells them to
- human rights insures Christians are not disadvantaged in job applications because of what they believe
how can human rights cause problems for Christians
- some Christians believe no one has the right to form a civil partnership or for homosexuals to raise children because it goes against gods will
- some are against the right to marry someone of another religion so children will always be brought up as Christians
- human rights laws can be used to suggest women should be allowed to be priests or priests should be allowed to have children but this goes against the Catholic Church is teachings
why Christians should take part in electoral and democratic processes
Should take part..
-we pay taxes and VAT, voting gives you control over how much we pay and how the government money is spent
-gives you a chance to affect new laws
-give you a say in how Armed Forces, schools, the NHS maintenance of roads etc are run
some think one vote makes no difference and all politicians make promises they don’t keep
christians must take part to ensure..
- The government upholds the right of equality, fair treatment and other rights in line with Christianity
- to ensure the right to follow one’s own religion and freedom of expression is maintained
Christian teachings on moral duties and responsibilities
-The golden rule: Christians should use this rule when deciding which political party to vote for e.g. if a party wanted to send all asylum seekers back where they came from Christians would not think this is how they would like to be treated if they were in that situation and so should not follow this political party
-Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats teaches that at the end of the world the son of man will judge everyone, those who are like sheep who help the poor and suffering will go to heaven and those who are like goats who did not help others will go to hell. thus it is the duty of a Christian to help the poor and suffering and they should help parties who also aim to do this
-The story of Cain and Abel teaches that anyone who has material possessions and sees his brother in need but does not pity him does not love God so Christians have a duty to look after everyone in need and work for social change so society becomes truly Christian
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The nature of genetic engineering
genetic engineering is using techniques of gene development to find cures/prevent diseases and disabilities
recently cloning has been used to create healthy cells to replace diseased ones often from embryos produced during IVF but not used
positives of genetic engineering
- offers chance to cure diseases
- cloning using animal eggs doesn’t include loss of human life
- genetic engineering is monitored by the law and can be very beneficial
Negatives of genetic engineering
- we don’t know the long term consequences
- places too much power in hands of scientists
- if it goes wrong the effects are permanent
catholic attitudes to genetic engineering
life begins at conception so ending life, even in a test tube after scientific research is done is wrong.
killing an embryo is killing a human being, the embryos used are produces by unchristian means (male masturbation)
liberal Protestant attitudes to genetic engineering
Jesus showed that Christians should try to cure diseases, using genetic cures are no different from finding drug cures. embryos do not become a foetus until they are 2 weeks old
